Caldwell first game back and Merrett well held.
Thats not hard for a side like the dogs who have weapons everywhere.
I’m not ok with a 91 point drubbing but I am fine with us not being anywhere near their level yet.
I’d be expecting our best football at Dreamtime and a much better result.
Coming into the game, I was expecting a similar result to the Pies game. Have a crack for half of the game and then be outclassed at the end by 30 points.
90 point loss however cannot be explained by simply being outclassed.
Exactly, seen hawks and blues fans whinging about games of Reeves and Pittonet last two days
We on our backup to those guys.
Goldy can hold his own for a half. After that it’s brutal for the lad.
Agree with all of this, but I wouldn’t call Caldwell a negating mid. Knowing Essendon, Caldwell isn’t actually fully fit
Does anyone else find it odd that 22 football weeks ago, we took apart this bulldogs team comfortably? It was a better bulldogs side to, didnt have anyone missing. Is it literally just confidence? Is it effort?
If its not talent, what is the ingrediant? How is it unlocked?
I thought there was half a game where we were “having a crack”. The problem was that the dogs easily had us covered.
Too many holes over the ground
Ive seen drubbings where there’s been a lack of effort. That wasn’t last night.
Still gutted about last night. I expected a 10 goal loss but didn’t imagine it would be 15. Essington can’t be accused of underperforming. It always exceeds expectations.
Was that the first half which was 10.8 to 1.3 or the second half which was 8.11 to 4.3?
I thought Peter Wright was horrible.
We needed him and Langford to be much better as senior players in the forward line. Not necessarily i50 but pushing up the ground.
(Because we got beat up around the ball by a great midfield unit)
Painful to admit but that game is a clear indicator of where we are at. We lack class right across the ground and last night it showed. We lack elite runners, something that the Craìg Vozzo has admitted, and that’s why every time the balll was in dispute the bulldogs outnumbered us.
We lack composure, decision making and execution with and without ball in hand. For the younger guys on the list this will come with time but for the older players, they simply don’t have it and won’t get it ( honestly some of McGraths kicks across ground, where the player had to run back 20 metres because of the kick,are too common a site)
I’m comfortable in the knowledge that we can’t compete at that level and we sit in the 13th -18th range on ability. I can see young players with big futures on our list……Caddy, Durham, Caldwell, Kako, Martin, Reid, Roberts…want to see Tsatis played for rest of year, we have to know if he can make it.
My frustration is, we win close games, against poor teams where we look unconvincing but we end up much higher on the ladder than our talent indicates. This leads to false ideas of our ability, poorer draft return and a harder draw the next year. We have to break that cycle of middle ladder or that’s where we will stay.
Bulldogs were awesome, they won’t play that well ever again
yet we beat a better bulldogs side the last time we played them
That red nut the dogs have is so good.
Then there’s the Bont, Libba and their ruckman.
Then there’s their senior backmen who can beat teenagers.
I was disappointed with some of our senior players. But geez the opposition were good. Outstanding
I’m not overly gutted by this. It hurts watching your team get spanked but I and many other bemoan our previous midtable nothing type seasons. Bottoming out looks like this, you get spanked on multiple occasions, the cracks are fully exposed. A skilled list management team, which I hope Rosa backed by Vosso may be, are keeping tabs on personal to be cut or put up for trade (though the Jones extension gives me pause). The injuires have turned an average list into a very substandard one and the Bulldogs in the meantime are humming.
I suppose you have to look at their star studded midfield compared to ours: a bloke who couldn’t crack the Carlton or GWS midfield in Setterfield, a bloke who couldn’t crack the GWS midfield in Caldwell, a bloke from the Richmond VFL in Durham and a bloke who thought he’d retired four weeks ago.
The bloke they let go to st Kilda (Jack Macrae) would be our best mid.
You mean Kennedy? 
No I don’t think many people are that down.
Theres thrashing’s that occur simply because you are so woeful.
Then theres thrashings that simply occur because your opponents are breathtakingly good.
It was the latter.
We looked “on” to start the game. It was just obvious the dogs were too and just so so good.
Disagree. You don’t see high performing teams get belted like that.
We got outclassed in the Adelaide game, but at least we scored 100 ourselves. Scoring 35 points in a home game indicates bigger issues
I didn’t say we were high performing.
We didn’t get smashed through a lack of effort(although missed tackles highlights a problem when you can’t get your hands on it).
Kind of the difference when you don’t get first use.
These players are all lightweights between the ears. This demographic of players is a huge problem for us.
Hopefully this is the game that the full on nuffy clappers realise that Brad Scott is an absolute fraud and extending his contract was one of the worst club decisions in living memory. And that says a LOT.